diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0cdbf54513a9..d5ebeb05932d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -327,9 +327,9 @@ endif()
 if(WIN32)
   include(CheckSymbolExists)
   list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES  "ws2_32")
-  check_symbol_exists(inet_pton "ws2tcpip.h" INET_PTON_FOUND)
-  if(INET_PTON_FOUND)
-    add_definitions(-DHAS_INET_PTON)
+  check_symbol_exists(inet_pton "ws2tcpip.h" WIN32_INET_PTON_FOUND)
+  if(WIN32_INET_PTON_FOUND)
+    add_definitions(-DWIN32_HAS_INET_PTON)
   endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/R-package/configure.win b/R-package/configure.win
index d7f75f972771..4d20644778cd 100755
--- a/R-package/configure.win
+++ b/R-package/configure.win
@@ -70,6 +70,34 @@ then
     LGB_CPPFLAGS="${LGB_CPPFLAGS} -DMM_MALLOC=1"
 fi
 
+###############
+# INET_PTON #
+###############
+
+ac_inet_pton="no"
+
+cat > conftest.cpp <<EOL
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <ws2tcpip.h>
+#endif
+int main() {
+  #ifdef _WIN32
+  void* p = inet_pton;
+  #endif
+  return 0;
+}
+EOL
+
+${CXX} ${CXXFLAGS} ${CPPFLAGS} -o conftest conftest.cpp 2>/dev/null && ./conftest && ac_inet_pton="yes"
+rm -f ./conftest
+rm -f ./conftest.cpp
+echo "checking whether INET_PTON works...${ac_inet_pton}"
+
+if test "${ac_inet_pton}" = "yes";
+then
+    LGB_CPPFLAGS="${LGB_CPPFLAGS} -DWIN32_HAS_INET_PTON=1"
+fi
+
 # Generate Makevars.win from Makevars.win.in
 sed -e \
     "s/@LGB_CPPFLAGS@/$LGB_CPPFLAGS/" \
diff --git a/src/network/socket_wrapper.hpp b/src/network/socket_wrapper.hpp
index 57d97973d01e..f8e6ee62cbe7 100644
--- a/src/network/socket_wrapper.hpp
+++ b/src/network/socket_wrapper.hpp
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ const int INVALID_SOCKET = -1;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-// existence of inet_pton is checked in CMakeLists.txt and stored in HAS_INET_PTON
-#ifndef HAS_INET_PTON
+// existence of inet_pton is checked in CMakeLists.txt and stored in WIN32_HAS_INET_PTON
+#ifndef WIN32_HAS_INET_PTON
 // not using visual studio in windows
 inline int inet_pton(int af, const char *src, void *dst) {
   struct sockaddr_storage ss;